Till the End of the Line
by Claireisclaire
Summary: Ashlie planned to have a relaxing vacation with her two best friends from high school, until one of them is kidnapped by an enemy of the Avengers. Ashlie teams up with the Avengers to save her friend.
1. Chapter 1

Let me explain somethings before you get started reading this chapter:

These characters are based on real people.

There are many inside jokes that I will explain before the chapter so please read them.

If you have any questions, please ask and I will answer them so everyone can get the jokes.

ENJOY

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: So, obviously, I am Claire. My friend Ashlie is moving to Washington next year and I wanted to write her a story since she loves the Avengers so much (Bucky in particular). My dream is to become a screenwriter so that is what has happened to me in the story. Ashlie and I both grew up in Georgetown, Texas. It's not that big of a town.

Chapter One: Claire's Attractive Male Friend

Meeting Claire in New York put a good size hole in her vacation budget, but she hadn't seen her in years. Ashlie walked into the 70 Park Avenue Hotel, her hands filled with bags.

As she waddled up to the front counter a young bellhop took some of her bags.

"Thank you." Ashlie shook the tension in her hand away. "Name?" The lady behind the counter typed away at a computer.

"Ashlie Mazulo."

"I.D. Please." Ashlie nodded. She dug through her purse until she found her wallet. She opened it, it was a mess.

"One sec." Ashlie dug some more, pulling out coupons and tissues. "it was a long and bumpy plane ride." Ashlie found a white card and handed it over. "Found it." She pushed her air behind her ear and smiled at the bellhop.

"Uh…ma'am. I'm going to need your driver's license. Not…East View High School lunch card." Ashlie laughed lightly and took back her card. The lady sighed as Ashlie kept digging through her purse. "Room 712, ma'am." Ashlie stopped digging and took the room key.

"Thank you."

Ashlie pressed the elevator button and tapped the wall in excitement. She lightly punched the wall and ran down the hallway.

She raced down the stairs, two at a time.

"Excited, Miss Ashlie?" The bellhop opened the door for her.

"I am very much," Ashlie read his name tag, "Sebastian. Thank you."

Ashlie saw Claire sitting alone at a table for four. She ran inside. Both girls screamed and hugged. They quieted down once they saw their audiences' reaction.

"I've missed you so much, Ashlie. How's college in Washington?" Ashlie took a seat.

"It's great, wonderful, perfect, awesome." Claire raised her eyebrows.

"That's a lot of adjectives." Claire handed over a coffee. Ashlie took a sip and sighed.

"Hey, Claire." A muscular man slid next to her. He wore old glasses and a baseball cap. "Who's your friend?"

"Steve, Ashlie. Ashlie, Steve." Ashlie reaches over the table and shook his hand.

"That…is a handshake. Nice to meet you." Steve smiled and Ashlie looked over at Claire.

 _I know_ she mouthed. "Pleasure is mine. Claire, I finished watching the Narnia series. I understand why you're upset. I wanted Peter and Susan to return too. Steve leaned forward, resting on his arms.

"Plus Susan is like the Hawkeye of the group." Ashlie sat a bit taller, intrigued about the new topic.

"Speaking of, Claire, have you seen any Avengers yet?" Claire laughed.

"I don't think the Avengers come to coffee shops, public ones anyway." Steve adjusted his hat, lower. Ashlie noticed the clench of his jaw, and thought maybe he was a die-hard Avenger fan.

Steve pulled out his phone. "I…have to go." Steve stood. "Claire, I'll see you here next week. Nice to meet you, Ashlie."

Ashlie stayed at the café with Claire until they had finished three cups of coffee. "Alright, Miss Screenwriter. Are you going to show me around NYC?" Claire zipped up her jacket and pulled her hair into a ponytail while she laughed.

"Oh, well, we can look stuff up on my phone. "I'm not good with directions." Ashlie looked at her disbelievingly, "this place is a lot bigger than Georgetown. And louder." Ashlie tied her scarf and they were engulfed in the cacophony of the New York City streets.

"How long have you lived here?" Ashlie asked.

"Next month will be a year. How time flies."

"Claire-" Ashlie smiled. It felt normal walking next to Claire, it felt natural. Ashlie was looking forward to a wonderful, relaxing vacation.


	2. Chapter 2

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Whenever Ashlie gets scared or terrified, her immediate response is to run. This is especially so when a cute boy is anywhere near her.

Chapter Two: Ah! Robot Attack

Ashlie and Claire walked out of the bar only slightly stumbling.

"Try, try, try," Claire laughed between words. "Try to say it again."

Ashlie put one hand on a building and attempted to keep a straight face.

"Excuse me," Ashlie slurred in a horrible Spanish accent. "Is that a mirror in your pocket? Cause I can see myself in your pants." Claire held her side, bending over. "He didn't actually think that would work?"

"I did not want to stay and figure it out. Let's get some coffee."

"Claire, I think you drink too much coffee."

"No such thing." Claire trips and Ashlie tries to catch her. They end up both falling to the ground, laughing. People steeped around them.

A high-pitched scream interrupts their laughter. People start running. Ashlie looks behind them but she sees nothing. As she picked herself up a person pushed Ashlie down, the last think she heard before she blacked out was an explosion.

"Ashlie! Ashlie!" Ashlie opened her eyes to see Steve knelt in front of her. His face was covered with a mask of some sort. Ashlie held a hand to her head. When she brought her hand to her face she saw blood. Her head pounded, or perhaps it was the crumbling building in front of her.

"Ashlie, can you hear me?" Ashlie looked to her left, then to her right. Claire was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Claire? What happened?" Steve closed his eyes. He hung his head.

"Ashlie, please, tell me where you last saw Claire." Ashlie took a moment to push past the pain in her head.

"Right here. We were walking and she fell then…ugh, then I woke up." Steve stood. That's when Ashlie saw his outfit, his…uniform. Steve was Captain America, leader of the Avengers. For some strange reason, part of it being alcohol, Ashlie found this very funny. "You're Captain America." Saying it out loud made her laugh even harder. Steve knelt down again.

"Ashlie, what happened? Tell me everything." Ashlie tried to stop laughing but her body wouldn't let her. Soon her sides were hurting and Ashlie leaned her head back.

"Ha, Captain America." As Ashlie mumbled about him, Steve put a finger to his ear, turning on his speaker.

"I've got a witness, Bucky, take her back to headquarters." Steve looked down at Ashlie. "And get her some water." Steve stood and started to walk away.

"Wait," Ashlie called, "Where's Claire?"

"I'll find her, I promise." With that statement Captain America left Ashlie leaned up against a building.

"This is the weirdest dream." Ashlie said to herself.

"Isn't it?" A man emerged from the shadows. Ashlie's first impulse was to run, but as she attempted, she fell.

"Oh, sorry." The man removed his mask revealing a face so attracting Ashlie couldn't help but drop her jaw in surprise. He held up his hands in a surrender position. "I mean you no harm." That's when Ashlie noticed the silver arm. It looked to be some kind of metal. Her mind made his appearance blurry. "You probably don't want to spend any more time on the ground."

Ashlie pushed her arms up, her boy felt like the weight of a car. Her hands trembled and she started to fall back to the ground. Her face never made the connection with the concrete. She slowly twisted her head around to see Bucky holding her.

"Now, now." He smirked. "Can't have you falling for me just yet. You're not sober yet." Ashlie didn't hear all of what he said but it sounded funny to her, so she laughed. "Steve's right, you need water." Bucky easily lifted her into his arms. He walked down to crumbling New York City street. "You know," he talked to Ashlie, "the last time I was here there was a war." Ashlie responded with "huhs" and "cools" as he told her his story.

Ashlie woke with her head on top of the softest pillow ever. She sighed into the comfort until she realized she was not at her hotel. Her hotel room had red stripes lining the wall, and this place was completely grey. Ashlie quickly sat up, then immediately regretted it as pain shot through her head. She laid her head back down and groaned.

"Oh good, you're awake." Ashlie turned her head to see a man in the bed with her. She screamed and rolled off the bed. The man laughed, Ashlie put a hand to her head, trying to push the sharp pain away. "Sorry." The man said unapologetically. His laugh confused Ashlie, she peeked above the bed. The man was now sitting. He wore a black shirt and…Bucky. The name came to her, along with the other memories from last night.

"Steve will want to speak with you, but I'll sneak you in some coffee before the interrogation." Bucky calmly walked to the door. Ashlie watched him carefully. When the door closed Ashlie jumped up. She supported her weight on a nightstand.

Ashlie went to the window; the sun had barely risen. She opened it, she guessed about a ten foot drop to the bottom. She sat on the ledge and jumped. She hung onto the edge with her fingers and took a deep breath before dropping.

Her bare feet touched grass and she ran. She ran until a giant robot landed in front of her. She fell backward.

"Hello there." The robot said. "You must be Ashlie." Ashlie got up quickly and ran in the opposite direction. "Wait."

Ashlie ran, the sun rose and light filled her eyes. Then the sun wasn't in her eyes anymore. She looked to see a giant bird floating above her. It landed.

It wasn't a bird, but a man, a flying man. Ashlie's eyes grew die and she pushed her legs faster.

Ashlie saw a metal fence getting closer, she didn't dare look back. She took a big leap and jumped onto the fence. She swung her legs over and dropped down.

The robot, flying man, and some other figures were rushing toward her, yelling but Ashlie couldn't hear anything above the sound of her heart pounding. Ashlie's legs screamed in pain but she kept going. By the time she got to her hotel her feet were bleeding and she had a hard time breathing normally.

"Good morning, Miss Ashlie- Oh my God!" Sebastian ran to her. "What happened?"

"I think I just met the Avengers." Ashlie swayed and collapsed in Sebastian's' arms.

Sebastian awkwardly held her. He picked her up and carried her inside.

"Sebastian, what the hell happened?" The front desk lady dropped the pen that was twirling between her fingers.

"I have no idea, Abby. May I have a key to her room please?" Abby reached into the desk and pulled out a room key. Sebastian took hold of it and walked toward the elevators.

"Tourists." Abby whispered.


	3. Chapter 3

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The term "WOT are you doing" came from our British friend Aaron who _**always**_ says "WOT are you doing", plus it's fun to say. When Ashlie asks Reagan for "drugs" she is asking for Advil, not actual drugs. We gave it this code name because our school doesn't let us carry Advil without the nurse's permission. "Gotta blast" is Reagan's catchphrase, yes, it's from Little Einstein's, but she says it, like, all the time.

Chapter Three: Weirdest Dream Ever

Ashlie woke up in her hotel room bed. She looked to her left, no one was in her bed. Ashlie sighed, it was only a dream. She sat up and placed her feet on the floor.

"Ah!" Ashlie picked her feet back up. Gauze wrapped from the ball of her foot to her ankle. "What the-" Ashlie put her feet down slowly, she winced in pain. She dropped down to her knees and crawled to her suitcase. She pulled out slippers and gently slid them on, she crawled to her bathroom.

Ashlie looked in the mirror. A purple bruise stood out against her pale skin. Her hair went in every direction except down. And her dress was covered by a shirt, not her shirt. Bucky's?

"It was a dream." She convinced herself. A knock sounded making Ashlie jump. She crawled to her door. On her knees she opened the door a little.

"Ashlie! _WOT are you doing_ -on the floor?" Ashlie open the door fully. It was Reagan, another friend from Texas. "stand up so I can hug you." Reagan put down her suitcase and opened her arms.

"Uh, I hurt my feet." Reagan laughed and kneeled, throwing her arms around Ashlie.

"Why would you do that?" What are you wearing?" Review walked into her room. She close the door. Reagan sat on the bed, Ashlie awkwardly crawled toward her. "Holy shit, Ashlie, your face!" Ashlie opened her mouth to speak. Reagan picked up the phone on the nightstand. "I need a bag of ice up to room 712, please. Immediately." Ashlie leaned against the wall. She kicked her feet out in front of her. "I'm calling Claire."

"It was a dream." Ashlie said quietly. "It was just a dream."

"Damnit, Claire, pick up." Reagan slammed her phone down. "Ashlie, what has happened the last three days?"

"Three? I've only been here one day." Reagan put a hand on Ashlie's shoulder.

"No, you've been here for three days. See," Reagan pulled out her phone. She showed a picture on Twitter of Claire and Ashlie at the coffee shop. "That was Saturday. It's Tuesday. Ashlie, what the hell happened?"

A knock at the door interrupted Ashlie's answer. Reagan opened the door.

"Hi, we need to speak with Ashlie Mazulo." Ashlie recognized that voice. Steve. "May we come in?"

"Ashlie," Reagan yelled, "there are muscular men asking for you." Ashlie took a breath.

"Let them in." Steve and Bucky came into Ashlie's view.

"It wasn't a dream." Ashlie whispered. Bucky knelt and pushed part of her hair, back, examining her bruise.

"You wouldn't be in much pain if you hadn't run from us." Bucky smiled. "Plus, this is one of my favorite shirts."

"Ashlie, please allow us to help you." Reagan sat on the bed, constantly looking between Steve and Bucky.

"Question." Reagan raised her hand, "where's Claire?" Steve turned to her.

"That's what we're trying to find out. She's…missing." Reagan gasped.

"Her voicemail makes more sense." All three looked back at Reagan as she pulled out her phone.

"What the hell?" Claire's voice rang clear through the phone. "Ashlie? Ash-oh. Hey! Hey! Anybody?" Random bursts of sound came from the background. "Reagan? Why am I calling you? I must be in the weirdest club ever." A low voice spoke from the background. "That can't be good." The phone beeped indicating the message was over.

"I thought it was a prank call." Steve and Bucky talked to each other in hushed tones. "Ashlie, who are these guys?"

"Avengers?" Ashlie did not trust her mind anymore. "Reagan. You got any dugs?" Reagan gawked at Steve and Bucky before pulling out Advil from her purse.

"Here, girl." Ashlie took the pills. Steve put a hand on Bucky's shoulder.

"Okay, first we're going to take both of you back to headquarters, then Ashlie is going to explain what happened." Steve turned and opened the door. Reagan grabbed Ashlie's hand, pulling her up. Ashlie bit down on her cheek to keep from screaming. With one step Bucky picked Ashlie up into his arms.

"That's why you shouldn't run through New York without shoes."

Reagan closed the door to the room. Sebastian ran up to her, holding an ice pack.

"Wait, who are they? Where's Ashlie?" Reagan sighed, taking the ice in her hand. "If I could explain I would, but I can't, so…" Sebastian looked at her like she was crazy. "Gotta blast." Reagan ran down the hall way. Steve and Bucky went up to the stairs. "Uh, don't we need to go downstairs? Where the street is?" Reagan followed the men upstairs.

"Can't really park a jet on the road." Steve took the stairs two at a time.

"You aren't really an Avenger, are you?" Ashlie asked Bucky.

"No, I'm not. But he is." Bucky lifted his chin at Steve. "I'm not everyone's favorite." Reagan stopped.

"Avengers." Reagan whispered. "Damn." She raced up the stairs to keep up.


	4. Chapter 4

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Reagan's favorite Avenger is Spiderman.

Chapter Four: Superhero Meeting Plus Two Humans

Ashlie and Reagan sat side by side on a small red couch. Steve leaned against the unlit fireplace. Bucky stood behind Sam, the man from the bird costume.

Tony Stark, the Iron Man, sat with one leg propped up on his knee. His chin rested on his hand.

On an adjacent couch sat "The Wonder Twins" as Reagan named them, Wanda and Pietro. Behind them stood Rhodes, the man inside the robot called Vision, and Natasha, single-handedly the most intimidating woman Ashlie had ever seen.

"Then I woke up and you were in my face." Ashlie finished her story.

"Well," Tony stark stood up, he straightened his tie. "This has been interesting. Cap'n, you should have told me in advance we were having story time, I would've brought popcorn." Steve clenched his fist.

"No, that can't be it. There must be more, anything that will us to the last Ultron." Ashlie and Reagan shared a look of confusion. "Think Ashlie."

"Don't push her. Give her time." Bucky offered.

"We don't have time." Ashlie twisted a bracelet on her wrist.

"I could try something." Wanda spoke up. "I can look through your memories; perhaps find something you don't quite remember."

"You can do that?" Reagan asked. "Cool."

Ashlie nodded. "Sure, whatever helps?" Wanda knelt before Ashlie. A small, red flame came out of her fingers. Ashlie instinctively scooted away.

"Relax, you won't feel any pain." The red flame rose to Ashlie head and disappeared. Ashlie suddenly felt an uncomfortable pressure build up in her head. As soon as the pressure became too much to bare, it was gone. Ashlie leaned against Reagan, feeling a bit drained. "You forgot you fought Ultron." Ashlie sat up.

"I…what?" Ashlie watched Wanda go back to her spot next to her brother. "Why would I do that?"

"Alcohol is a superpower on its own." Tony took off his sunglasses and tucked them into his suit pocket.

"You were kicked and knocked out for a second then you woke finding your friend in the arms of Ultron so you jumped on top of him." Wanda smiled. "It was bad ass. He threw you against the wall, which I'm guessing is where you got that bruise."

"That doesn't give us any more information than we already have." Steve put a hand to his temple.

"Would you replay the message, Miss Reagan?" The Vision asked politely.

As Reagan replayed the message, the Vision nodded.

"They noise in the background is talking, I know where Claire was taken."

"I've called in some extra help." Steve stated as he clipped on a backpack.

"Is that necessary?" Tony tightened his watch. "It is only one Ultron."

"I believe there is no such thing as being over prepared." On cue the elevator opened. Tony groaned, "No, no, no, no, no."

"We haven't done anything yet." Thor crossed his arms, stepping out of the elevator. Along with Thor, a young boy, and Rhody also known as War Machine.

"Parker, go home." Tony spoke to the young boy. Ashlie leaned over to Reagan.

"Who's that?" Ashlie whispered. Reagan's mouth sat open, her eyes glossed over. "Reagan? Reagan?"

"Mr. Stark, no offense to you, sir, you're awesome, but Captain Rogers asked me to come and also that lady," he pointed to Natasha, "said she would hurt me and I don't want to be hurt, Mr. Stark, sir." The boy lowered his head.

"Smart boy." Steve nodded. "Thor. Thank you for helping." Thor shakes Steve's hand with a force that would dent a car. "All right, we'll talk over the plan then head out."

"This sucks." Sam opened a can of beer and leaned back on the sofa. Peter Parker, the young boy who was scared of Natasha crosses his legs and sits next to him, opening a bag of popcorn.

"I don't like this." Ashlie pulled Reagan into the kitchen. They were surrounded by expensive merchandise, the two friends felt out of place in the rich atmosphere. "We should be helping, going to find our friend ourselves. Not sitting here being baby-sitter-ed."

"The avengers are almost there, Ashlie. We'll have Claire back before the end of the day." Reagan got out her phone and span it around in her hands. "This is being handled."

"Doesn't it seem too easy that the Vision knew exactly where the Ultron is? And how do they know they didn't move? How do we know anything, and why are there two of you?" Ashlie bonked her head on a cabinet and collapsed to the floor. Reagan attempted to catch her, but instead she just fell to the floor with Ashlie's body on top of hers.

"Uh…Mr. Falcon? I need…help." Reagan pushed at Ashlie.

Peter and Sam raced into the kitchen. "What the hell?" Sam put his hands in his pockets, shaking his head.

"She just fell, I'm not…very…strong." Reagan slipped and fell back. She groaned and closed her eyes. Peter looked down at her.

"She's kind of cute." Peter leaned into Sam, who put his head in his hands.

Ashlie woke up once again the grey room. This time her headache was not as bad. She sat up slowly, taking in her environment.

"I locked the window this time." Ashlie turned to see Bucky sitting at a chair with his feet propped up. He leaned forward. "How are you feeling?" Ashlie sat up straighter.

"I…I'm okay. I'm fine." Ashlie got out of bed. She stood, putting one hand on the bed to keep herself from falling over. Bucky stood, Ashlie put her hand out to stop him. "I'm fine. I just want some water." Bucky opened the door for her and put a hand on her back as she gripped the door frame to keep balance.

Ashlie sipped from a glass of water, she looked around. Steve and Sam was stretching their legs, Natasha was cleaning guns while listening to music, and the Wonder Twins were talking quietly to each other a map between them. Ashlie put the glass down. "She's not here, is she?" Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched Ashlie's reaction. Vision entered floating slightly above the ground. "You didn't save Claire?"

"No." Steve knelt down to tie his shoe.

"Is she…oh, God, is she-"

"No, no, no. He didn't mean it like that." Bucky sat down. "He meant that we didn't find anything." Vision tilted his head at Ashlie.

"Miss Ashlie, may I speak with you a moment." Ashlie walked shakily over to Vision. He opened a door for her and she entered. After closing the door Ashlie felt a wave of exhaustion. "Ashlie, I hope you don't mind but I read your thoughts." Ashlie looked up at him in confusion.

"You…what?"

"I said I-"

"I know what you said, I what I meant was why?" Ashlie crossed her arms. She didn't take too kindly to those who invaded here personal space.

"I am sorry you are upset, but when I read your thoughts they seemed like you were going to go find your friend on your own." Ashlie dropped her hands because that was correct. That was her first thought. She was going to grab Reagan and find Claire herself. "And since you are keeping quiet I know I am correct in assuming you intend to carry out this action, even though logically it is quite impractical." Ashlie had made up her mind that she was not particularly fond of Vision. "You do not have to like me; you just have to listen."

"Get out of my head. It is none of your business weather I go…do whatever, or not." Ashlie moved to leave the room.

"It is my business because Mr. Rogers seems to be more interested in saving your friend than stopping his most feared enemy and I cannot let distraction cost him or anyone on this team their life. We _will_ find Claire, and we _will_ defeat the last Ultron, just give us time." Ashlie huffed.

"Time. Time is the one thing people always take for granted, I am under the impression that you are not very old so I'll teach you a lesson." Ashlie pushed her chin up. Vision stepped back, surprised at her burst of confidence. "People say 'cherish this time, you never know how much you have left' and I always laughed at those people, because of course _I_ have more time. Why wouldn't I? I didn't have any friends move away, I didn't have any major deaths in my family, I had a great life with great friends, and a great family. I had all the time in the world." Ashlie sat down on a chair behind her. "Then Dad got a job in Washington, and time slipped away from me. It went from a few months from leaving to a few minutes. Then I was 1,523 miles away from my friends. My new school was shit, I spent my senior year alone. I went to college and I was made teased for my 'southern accent', the highest point of the past couple years was being in a class with only ten people so I didn't have to sit next to any of them and hear then gossip about me. That's when time slowed down, I use to talk to Claire and Reagan every day, then it was every week, then it was once a month, then it was not at all. I started forgetting what their faces looked like. Then I got this invitation to come see Claire and I jumped at it, just to get away from Washington. And in a few days I have to go back to school, alone, with no friends and time is going to slow down again and I don't want it to. I need my friends with me so I can cherish my time with them, does that make sense?"

Vision nodded. He stepped aside. Ashlie gripped the door handle. "I don't want to have anyone suffer, but my friend needs me. And if you aren't going to help," She opened the door, "then so be it." Ashlie left Vision in the room alone. After she had gone Bucky entered the room. Vision looked to him.

"Did you hear it?"

"Every word." Bucky watched Ashlie pull Reagan away from Peter, who was previously holding her hand.

"Should I tell Captain Rogers?" Bucky ran a hand through his hair.

"Not yet, let see what she can find out on her own."


	5. Chapter 5

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: That is a fake number. I do not know who's it is. I wouldn't suggest calling it.

Chapter Five: Hey Look, the Avengers!

Ashlie and Reagan leaned on a counter, tapping their fingers.

"So, yeah, um-" the young man behind the counter rubbed his eye and typed away at a computer. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"I need you to track this phone number, and quickly please." The young man's mouth hung open.

"Yeah, I can't do that. I'm not the NSA, or a stalker." Ashlie hit the table hard. Reagan narrowed her eyes at the man.

"Then find me someone who can."

Pietro sat at a coffee table with a baseball cap placed low on his head. He made eye contact with Sam who was leaning against a building on his phone.

"Buck, I'm all for stealth mode, but I am confused on the purpose of it."

Bucky stood inside a bookstore across the street from where Ashlie and Reagan were talking to a young boy typing away at a computer.

"What are they doing?" Pietro asked.

Ashlie and Reagan exited the store looking at a piece of paper. Bucky exits and Sam walks over and sits next to Pietro. Reagan flipped her hair and whispered to Ashlie.

"Do they know we're here?" Sam said into his phone.

Ashlie turned around quickly and yelled, "Hey look, the Avengers!" As she pointed at the men a swarm of people ran to them, taking pictures and yelling questions. Ashlie and Reagan ran the opposite direction.

"I think the answer is yes." Pietro held his hand up above the crowd swarming them.

"Shut up."

Ashlie knocked on a plastic door in a low budget apartment complex. "Adam Laurens?" The door opened a crack.

"Who wants to know?" A gruff voice came from the crack.

"We need you to track a phone for us." Reagan said.

"You've come to the wrong place." He started to close the door.

"Wait," Ashlie raised her voice, "we were sent by Thomas." Adam re-opened the door. "He said you would help us. Please, it's important. Our friend is missing."

"Thomas sent you. How…how is he?" Adam opened the door a bit wider.

"He's…fine?" Ashlie looked to Ashlie for help on what to say.

"Fine, fine. Did he look fine? Did he sound fine? What was he wearing?" Reagan and Ashlie looked between each other once more.

"He was wearing a hat, a red hat, a beanie, with some weird symbol on the front." Reagan tapped the wall impatiently.

"He was?" Adam said with excitement. "Come in." Adam opened the door. He was a young man, dressed in a t-shirt and pajama pants. In his hand a beanie identical to Thomas's but in a light grey. Adam led the girls to a desk topped with three laptops. Adam sat on a rolling chair and pushed himself up to his computers. "Give me the number and I can track where the phone is in twelve minutes."

"5-1-2-4-7-2-3-7-9-0." Ashlie read off her phone. Adam said the number again quietly then typed away at his laptops.

"Take a seat, if you like." Adam said, distracted by his screens.

"Ashlie, what are we going to do when we find her?" Ashlie sat on a dusty couch that groaned when she leaned back.

"I have a plan."

"Great let's hear it."

"Get the coordinates."

"Awesome." Reagan nodded.

"And…go there."

Reagan nodded. "And…"

"And…get Claire." Reagan stopped nodding.

"That's a sucky plan."

"What?"

"We can't just go," Reagan gestured around the room, "to wherever she is being held by scary robot dude and expect to do more than the Avengers can. We should tell them and get them to help us." Ashlie put her head in her hands.

"They don't care about Claire; they care about keeping the…the…Ultron thing away. And what if that means not saving Claire?" Reagan crossed her arms around her waist.

"So you would rather let this evil, robot, man get away than let Claire die?"

Ashlie took a breath. "She would do the same for us. You know she would." Reagan put a hand to her temple, rubbing it back and forth. She nodded.

"You're right. But we can't do this by ourselves. We need help." Ashlie nodded. "Alright, call up your boyfriend. Have him meet us." Reagan laughed and lightly punched Ashlie.

"He's not my boyfriend. Did it seem like he was? Was he acting in a boyfriend way? Did he say something to you?" Reagan leaned forward.

"Reagan, just call him."

"Right. Calling."

Peter sat across from Reagan as Ashlie pushed her phone in between them.

"She's in…how do you pronounce that?" Peter asked.

"Severomorsk."

"Extremely North Russia." Reagan pulled out her phone, she read from it. "Mostly known for its navy base. The last Ultron must be hiding somewhere there." Peter nodded.

"I'm all for going to Russia, I've always wanted those cool hats. But…Mr. Rogers…"

Ashlie leaned forward. "Cannot know about this. He doesn't care about getting Claire back." Peter looked between the two girls. "We can't save her by ourselves, we need help." Reagan put her hand on top of his.

"Please, Peter." Peter swallowed and nodded.

"Yeah, of course. I'll help you." Ashlie and Reagan smiled.

"Awesome, now we need more people. Who can we trust?" Peter tapped the table.

"I have an idea. Give me two hours. Meet me back here." Peter pushed his chair back and fled the table.

"I hope he doesn't do anything stupid."

Reagan leaned on her cheek on her hand and sighed. "He's so pretty." Ashlie rolled her eyes and groaned.


	6. Chapter 6

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: I think y'all are caught up.

Chapter Six: Excluded from the Group

Peter whistled through the Avengers Headquarters. "Miss Natasha, may I speak with you for a moment." Natasha placed down her book and stood up. Around her the other Avengers sat either reading or talking quietly to each other. She followed Peter to a separate room.

"For a team there are a lot of individual meetings going on." Rhody pointed out.

"Eh, it's probably nothing. Maybe he needs help on his homework or something like that." Tony played a game on his phone.

The door opened and Pietro, Sam, and Bucky entered, their hair messed up and clothes slightly torn.

"What happened to you?" Wanda laughed.

"We have a lot of fans." Sam stated. He grabbed a water and chugged the entire thing in one gulp.

Pietro sat down next to Wanda with a huff. He leaned his head back on the back of the couch. "That girl is smart." Bucky chucked his water bottle at Pietro, who caught it with one hand, he never lifted his head.

"What did he say?" Steve looked up.

"Nothing. He said, absolutely nothing." Bucky glared intensely at Pietro.

"Pietro, what's going on? Who are you talking about?" Wanda poked her brother's side until he sat up.

"Nothing, I was just-" Pietro looked at Bucky, "babbling."

"I'm calling bullshit on that." Steve put one hand on his knee.

"Captain, your language." Tony put a hand to his chest, eyes wide.

"Shut it, Stark. Bucky," Steve looked to his friend, "explain." Bucky sighed and sat down.

Before he could start explaining Natasha and Peter came back into the room. "Steve, Fury wants to speak with you, Vision, Wanda, Stark, and Rhodes."

"Why us specifically?" Vision asked.

"I'm just the messenger." Natasha put her hands up. Steve stood, Rhodes followed. Wanda shrugged and got up.

"This conversation isn't over." Steve pointed to Bucky. Vision looked at Bucky before being the last to leave the room. The people left in the room looked to Natasha.

"I'm not going to like what you're about to say, am I?" Clint asked.

"Not particularly."

Steve and Rhody were the first to enter the empty living room. Tony walked in on his phone. "Whoa, whoa, where'd they go?" Rhody asked. Vision held the door open for Wanda then closed it gently.

"I'm guessing they went to help Miss Ashlie and Reagan find their friend." Vision stated as the door closed.

"What? Vision how do you know this?" Steve asked spinning around to look at the robot.

"Mr. Barnes instructed me to keep quiet until the time was right." Vision seemed to miss the angered expression in Steve's face. "I believe that time has come."

Tony looked between Steve and Vision. "Steve, please don't break my son."

"What do you mean?" Vision asked Tony.

"Vision," Wanda put a hand on his arm, "where did they go?" Vision shrugged.

"I do not know."

"What do you know?" Steve asked.

Vision opened his mouth to respond.

Reagan pulled Ashlie off to the side. They were at an airport parking lot, a white jet sits near them.

"I have to say this one more time, just so that I'm positive I'm not going crazy. We're flying to Russia."

Ashlie crossed her arms. "Yes."

"With the Avengers."

"With select members of the Avengers, yes."

"To defeat a robot."

"We're going to save Claire. The Avengers are going to defeat the robot." Reagan looked around, then pushed her hair behind her ears.

"You understand how much this plan sounds crazy right?"

"Reagan, this is almost over. After this we will still have a week to chill!" Ashlie smiled and bounced up and down. Reagan put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ashlie, do you think this is going to end just because we get Claire back. She's been gone for five days, five days in a place she doesn't know, with scary men…robot things for five days. Think about the traumatic effect this will have on her brain." Ashlie looked down, thinking about the information she was just given.

"Nah, she'll be fine. Hey, when she gets back do you think we should see Hamilton or Phantom of the Opera first?" Ashlie started walking toward the jet.

"Ugh, girl. You are not getting it." Reagan said to herself.

Bucky came off the jet looking around. "Ashlie, Reagan. Let's move, before Stark catches up with us." Ashlie ran up the stairs taking two at a time. Reagan pulled Bucky back before entering the jet.

"Ashlie is acting weird. Will you…" Reagan trailed off.

"Of course." Bucky put a hand across his chest. "I promise that I will return all three of you safely back here, together."

"Thank you." Bucky closed the door.

As the plane flew high into the air a car pulled up to the airport parking lot. Steve jumped out, along with Tony, Vision, Wanda, and Rhody.

"Tony, make that plane turn around, now." Tony straightened his blue tie. "I'm not God, Steve, though you may want me to be."

"Why wouldn't they include us?" Wanda asked.

"Perhaps they thought we would stop them." Vision suggested. Steve punched a nearby cart, it dented easily.

"Damn it, we would have helped." Tony took a step back.

"Sir, if I might say, our first mission is to defeat the last Ultron, the girl would not be our first priority." Vision reached into Steve's mind. "Oh."

"What is it, Vision?" Wanda asked.

Steve looked at Vision, and though Vision was very young and not perfect at picking up non-verbal cues he could tell that Steve did not want him to continue his thought.

"Oh…I get it." Stark bounced up and down like a little boy. "Stevie's got a crush."

"Shut it, Stark." Steve, turned to Vision. "Do you know where they're headed?" Vision nodded. "Everyone," Everyone being five people, "get to the Quinn jet."

"Sir, what's our objective?" Vision asked. Steve looked at the group.

"Destroy Ultron, save Claire." He stated confidently.

"Which one first?" Rhodes scratched his head.

"Whichever one is easiest." The team ran off in the opposite direction.


	7. Chapter 7

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Alright, so Ashlie has this theory that she is never going to meet "the one". She came up with this image of her ideal man and we call this man "the Exception". The chapter explains through it enough I believe. If you have seen the movie Man From U.N.C.L.E. Illya is the ideal picture of The Exception.

Chapter Seven: The Exception

Bucky slide down the side of the jet to sit next to Ashlie. She tapped her knees, then wrapped her arms around them. Bucky pulled off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. Ashlie looked at him, truly looked at him. His physical beauty was obvious, a blind man would drop his jaw in his presence. If you had asked Ashlie if she believed in true love two years ago she would have said "hell no", if you asked her two weeks ago she would have said "hell no". In the short amount of time she had spent with him have been the most adventurous of her life, of course this had nothing to do with him specifically, she kind of fell into his life, not the other way around. Ashlie always had firm belief that there was no one in the world for her, she was too complicated for any man to handle, and she was okay with that, it had never bothered her before.

It's not like Ashlie hadn't been around hot guys before, she had, many times. Those boys made her smile, but they never made her blush, or want to make sure her hair wasn't messed up. She prided herself with not being those type of girls, who messed with their appearance once an attractive guy stepped into frame, many times her and Claire would make fun of those girls. The friends came up with "The Exception", which is a make-believe man who was perfect for Ashlie. "The Exception" must have three specific aspects: he must be from a foreign country, he must be military/ex-military, and he must have a scar on his face. With "The Exception" pictured clearly in her mind Ashlie was at ease with her commitment of solitude.

And yet, sitting next to Bucky with his jacket around her shoulders, she had an urge to push her hair behind her ears and hide her face. She snuck a peak at him, his lips were moving, and he had been talking to her.

"-and that's why I'll always be here for you." _That sounded important_ , Ashlie thought.

"I'm sorry, I was distracted, what did you say?" Bucky laughed and pushed his hair back, he sighed.

"Just said, if you need anything I'll be here." Ashlie smiled and nodded. Bucky stood up and walked toward the front of the jet.

Reagan took Bucky's spot next to her. She jabbed her elbow in Ashlie's side. "Ow." Ashlie looked to her friend. "What?"

"What? What? Are you kidding? Bucky just confessed his love to you. And you just sat there sat with your mouth hung open, like a fish. Guys don't want to confess their love to girls who look like a fish." Ashlie looked around, no one was paying attention to them.

"I do not look like a fish." Ashlie flipped her hair. "Do I?"

"Not usually, but you can't be so blind as to see that Bucky…" Reagan lowered her voice as Sam passed by. "That Bucky likes you." Ashlie leaned her head back against the wall of the plane. "He's your exception."

"He doesn't have the scar." Reagan thought about this for exactly three seconds.

"I'll be right back." Ashlie pulled her down before she could do any permanent damage.

"Why are you so convinced that he's 'The Exception'?" Reagan sat back down. Bucky walked over, holding two vests.

"These are for you two. Wear them at all times, for your protection." Reagan put hers on quickly, smoothing out the Velcro. Ashlie, on the other hand, was having trouble finding where her head was supposed to go. "May I help?" Ashlie nodded. Bucky reached around her to grab the vest and Velcro it around her waist. Reagan raises her eyebrows at her, she tilted her head at Bucky. Ashlie rolled her eyes, and shook her head. "There you go, now, when we get there this red button closes the door and the green one opens it. Here are your ear, listening, device…uh, I don't actually know what they are called."

"Bluetooth?" Reagan suggested.

"Yes. Blue. Tooth." Ashlie looked around, the other Avengers were lacing their boots or checking their equipment.

"Wait, wait, wait." Bucky and Reagan waited. "What?" Bucky looked to Reagan, with his eyebrows raised.

"She means, what do you mean?"

"We're not staying in here." Ashlie put her hands on her waist.

"Uh, yes you are." Sam tightened his arm guards. "You don't have any training and you don't know where Claire is being held."

"Neither do you." Reagan pointed out.

"Yeah, but we're the Avengers and y'all are-"

"Her best friends." Ashlie stepped closer to Sam. He took this as a challenge, he puffed his chest to grow taller.

Bucky sighed and put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "It's for your safety, please Ashlie." Ashlie looked up at Bucky.

Time stopped.

At the same time Ashlie felt a butterflies in her stomach, her head felt like it was being inflated like a balloon. Her instinct was to run away, physically leave the plane and run away. Of course that was irrational, she knew that, but it didn't stop her feet from wanting to move. It was like a fight or flight response, except Ashlie never fought. The fact that she was in a plane was an irony that could not be ignored. She took a few deep breathes to calm herself down, she then opened her mind to the possibility of liking Bucky. This went against every nerve in her body, she closed her eyes and searched deep within her and she found this feeling that made goosebumps erupt over her arms and legs. Her heart beat faster, like she had been working out for hours, or playing a game of dance revolution. This feeling was foreign and she wanted to deport it, but she fought herself and kept it. She took a deep breath, then the feeling made her smile, and she couldn't stop.

"Ashlie?" Bucky repeated. Bucky didn't know the response Ashlie would have, though he was fairly certain it wouldn't be a large smile, not that he minded, he liked her smile.

"We're good." Reagan put her hands on the back of Ashlie's shoulder. "We'll stay here. Just call if you need us." Bucky and Sam left along with the other Avengers. "Hey, Peter." Reagan called out. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?" Peter nodded, he started to walk out of the jet when he turned around.

He leaped back onto the jet and walk quickly towards Reagan, he grabbed her and brought his face close to hers. "If I weren't wearing a mask I would kiss you so hard," Reagan made a noise sounding somewhere between a mouse squeal and owl hoo. "We'll save that for later, then. I gotta…go, uh, save your friend." Peter left and Reagan puddled on the floor.

Ashlie snapped out of her trance when Reagan hit the floor. "Woah, something amazing just happened."

Reagan laughed. "You're telling me."

"He's 'The Exception'."

Reagan sat up, her jaw slacked open. The jet was quiet for a moment. Reagan put her hands up in the air, as if she had won something. "Whoop!"


	8. Chapter 8

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The story of the penguin and the seagull is a real story that I wrote when I was in third grade. I was very proud of it.

Chapter Eight: Ultron's Last Words

Pietro entered the building first, he did a scan of the main building. Just a few straggling soldiers here and there, nothing the Avengers couldn't handle. Pietro found the last Ultron in a medical area in the center of the building. He could not find Claire, he raced back outside to where the rest were waiting.

"Good news and bad news." He put his hands on his hips, slightly breathing heavily. "Good news, I found the last Ultron. Bad news-"

"You didn't find Claire." Natasha finished. "What do you want to do Barnes?"

Bucky looked around at the group, surprised he was picked as leader. "Why are you looking at me?"

"Because you pulled us all here on behalf of your girlfriend," Natasha played with the dagger attached to her hips. "You're in charge, do you have a plan?" Bucky stood a bit taller with his new title.

"Sam, Parker, Clint, Pietro, and Scott go to Ultron. Natasha, you come with me to find Claire." Bucky put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Call if you need us." Sam cracked his neck.

"We got this. I got a lot of pent up anger that I am ready to unleash." Sam jumped up and down and raced inside. "Let's go!" The others soon followed.

"So," Natasha looked around at the large factory Ultron was hiding in. "you take the left and I take the right?"

Steve Rogers and his team pulled up to the abandoned factory twenty minutes later. When he saw the open gate of the jet they had technically stolen he would have been relieved, that should have meant that they just arrived. But his relief was crushed by the sound of a battle came from the factory.

"What's the plan?" Rhody asked.

"You go find Ultron, I'll go rescue Claire." The team started to run. "Tony tap into the team's blue tooth's, we need to speak with them."

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., did you hear the Captain?"

"Yes, sir. I'm connecting you with the rest of the Avengers." A female robotic voice responded.

"-if you do that one more time, I'm going to take your spider mask and shove it up your"

"Sam, this is Steve. Where are you?" For a moment the line was silent. "Sam." The disappointment in his voice was clear.

"Fourth floor, it seems Ultron has been busy making minions."

"This place is huge; how did we miss this?" Tony flew up to the fourth floor with ease.

"Hello, Mr. Stark." Peter said quickly.

"Kid, you're in big trouble. Who left the jet door open? What if Ultron decides to make a dramatic exit?"

"What?" Bucky responded. "Left the door open? Reagan and Ashlie were in there." Steve put a hand to his temple, this whole situation was a complete mess.

"Why don't these girls listen?" Steve scolded.

"Would you?" Tony asked. "If, let's say, dear old Buck was in trouble, wouldn't you do anything to get him back?" Steve stayed silent. "Exactly. Let's just focus on the mission. Has anyone found Claire?"

"Barnes and I are looking, haven't found anything."

"Didn't you give the girl's blue-tooth as well?" Pietro added. He raced around, slowing down the environment around him to literally tear apart his enemies.

"Ashlie?"

"Reagan?"

No response came.

"Do you think Ultron captured them?" Wanda asked.

"No, Ultron did not." The team stopped fighting as a metal giant stood before the team. He looked weak, rusted. "If they were here, I would have taken them hostage and stored them in the basement."

Bucky and Natasha started heading down to the basement. As they opened the basement door and shut it behind them a lock clicked. They tried to open the door again but it wouldn't budge.

"Sometimes," Ultron scratched his metal chin, "it's too easy." Bucky and Natasha wondered around the basement. There were crates covered in old fabric, they started uncovering them. "I truly want to know though, what is your need to save this one human. She's been…difficult."

"You're talking about Claire?" Vision asked calmly.

"That is correct, my Vision. You're growing up so fast, so smart. Claire talks…a lot. It got kind of annoying after a while. Is she always like that? Even after her voice started to weaken, she just talked more and more. I almost returned her for the purpose of never hearing her voice again." Steve threw his shield at Ultron legs, he crumbled to the ground.

"Where is she?"

"And what she talked about wasn't anything important, she made up stories. My favorite was about the penguin who fell in love with a seagull. Spoiler, the seagull gives up flying to be with the penguin."

"Steve, there's no one in the basement." Bucky reported.

"Did I say basement? I meant storage closet on floor two, it's in the South Hallway, next to the window." Hawkeye and Scott ran off toward that direction.

"Wait, don't trust him." Natasha said.

"We have to check, at least. We'll keep an eye out for any of them." Hawkeye responded.

"And," Ultron continued, "every day I would tell her if she didn't stop talking I would kill her. She just kept talking. And talking. And talking. God, I wanted to just tear her head off her shoulders," Steve tensed up. His gut dropped out of his body. _Claire can't be dead, she can't_ , he thought. "But somehow I thought that wouldn't help, so I kept her alive. Every day I would tell her to shut up, and I think that just motivated her more."

Scott and Hawkeye got to the storage closet.

"Get to the point, Ultron." Tony pointed his hand at Ultron's face. "Where is Claire?"

"Hey, guys," a voice pitched over the blue-tooth, "its Reagan. Ashlie and I are borrowing the jet for a second, thanks."

"Wait." Bucky said, but before the word got out the sound of an engine roaring to life sounded across the building.

"Why are there so many buttons? Do you really need all of these?" Reagan asked.

"Reagan," Ashlie's voice was barely audible from the background noise. "Crush it."

"Okay, okay. Guys, here's the thing, we think we know where Claire is. Just stay there and fight the Iron Giant then we'll back, okay?"

"Reagan-" Bucky yelled.

"Gotta blast." The line went dead.

"Oh," Ultron smiled, "you don't think I brought Claire here did you? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like two human girls are smarter than the Avengers."

Natasha snagged a map off a table in the corner of the basement. "Or," Natasha read over the map, "They saw your map you so generously left lying about in the basement."

Ultron looked confused, "I didn't leave a map…Jerry, that stupid robot couldn't do anything right."

"I know where Claire is. Let's go." Natasha attempted to kick the door down. "Damn, how did those girls get out?" Bucky cleared his throat and pointed to a cracked window. "Oh. Nice."

"Well, when you find Claire, tell her it has been a pleasure-" Steve threw his shield and Ultron's head came off, the blue glow in his eyes dimmed until they turned off.

"And that is the end of Ultron." Vision tilted his head at the damage.

"Nat, where is Claire?"

"You're not going to like it."

"Eh, that's what you always say." Tony started flying out the door. "Shot gun!"


	9. Chapter 9

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The phrase "together or not at all" comes from my high school band program that Reagan and I were both apart of. We overuse this phrase so much it's become more of a joke.

Chapter Nine: Can We Go Home Now?

Reagan exited the quinjet on her hands and knees, she was pale and shaking. "Next time, I fly the jet."

Ashlie walked off, she was holding a piece of the jet tightly in her hands. "I never want to fly ever again."

"We're walking back to the states, we'll swim back. We'll face the sharks." Reagan and Ashlie laid down, their hands covering their eyes from the sun. "Together," Reagan breathed out, "or not at all."

Ashlie took a deep breath. "Okay, we get five more seconds. Then we find Claire."

Reagan sighed, "Okay. One. Two. Three. Four."

"Five."

Ashlie and Reagan roll up groaning. In front of them there was a small lake, in the middle was a boat.

"You ever think," Reagan and Ashlie started walking toward the dock, "that this is just a really weird drug trip, and right now were at your hotel, high?"

"The thought has crossed my mind, but then again, we don't do drugs."

"There's a first time for everything." Reagan and Ashlie took off their shoes and socks. They put their phones down too. Just as she did, Ashlie's phone rang, it was a blocked number. "How much do you want to bet?"

Ashlie answered the phone, "you can't stop us."

"We're not going to stop you; we're coming to help you." Natasha said. "We all think it's very courageous what you've done." In the background Bucky says, "I think it was kind of stupid." Something was thrown and an "ow" was heard. "Shut up, listen, we just wanted to keep you safe, we didn't mean to exclude you." Ashlie and Reagan looked skeptical at each other, why would the scary, badass lady be apologizing?

"Whatever you say." Ashlie put the phone down without hanging it up. Natasha continued to speak while the friends jumped into the water.

"So why don't you...damn." Natasha hung up the phone. "They hung up?" Tony asked. "They went into the water. Do they know they're going to get themselves killed?"

Bucky ran his fingers through his hair. The thought of Ashlie in danger made his hand twitch, wanting to punch the nearest thing. The nearest thing being a female assassin he instead took a deep breath and continued walking. Ever since Ashlie had fallen into his life he found himself thinking more about the future, he was never that kind of guy. He always had been 'in the moment'. In his normal time, his pre-Winter Soldier time, the future wasn't guaranteed, he was in the middle of a war America was losing. Thinking about the future made him nervous, he concentrated on the present, where he could laugh and pretend everything was alright. But with Ashlie the future didn't seem so scary, except a future without her. Bucky wished that there was time to talk to Steve, he seemed to be going through something similar.

As the team boarded the one jet Bucky got cramped next to the spider boy and Natasha. "So," the spider boy spoke up, "I don't know if it was implied, but I call dibs on Reagan."

Ashlie and Reagan climbed into the boat, they hadn't met any sharks so they called it an unqualified success. Sadly, that was the easy part. As they walked on the deck a man, eating a burrito, stopped in his tracks when he saw them. He grabbed his radio and started to speak. Reagan and Ashlie looked at each other, nodded, then ran screaming at the man. They knocked him over.

A door opened and another man came out, he was looking down at his phone. "Jim, you alright?" Jim opened his mouth to speak but Reagan pushed the burrito in his mouth.

"Yeah," Ashlie said in a deep voice, "I'm good. I...saw a fish."

"You scream like a girl." The man laughed and turned back inside, the door closed behind him.

Reagan kept the burrito shoved in the man's mouth. "I can't believe that worked."

"We need something to tie him with." Ashlie stood and grabbed a lifebuoy, she pushed it down over the man's shoulders and tied the rope around his hands. Reagan and Ashlie pushed Jim to the side of the boat and tied off the rope to a pole. "Stay." Jim mumbled something. Reagan grabbed the burrito from his mouth.

"What?"

"I don't sound like that."

"It convinced your friend." Jim rolled his eyes. Reagan started to stuff the Mexican food back into his mouth.

"You know I'll yell once I finish this burrito." Ashlie and Reagan looked to each other, they did not seem worried.

"That will be plenty of enough time." Ashlie and Reagan left Jim there with a face full of burrito, tied to the side of a boat. "Let's find Claire."

Steve was the first off the jet, though if it was his eagerness or Stark's endless talking was debatable.

"I'm just saying that Claire went to the coffee shop that happens to be on Cap'n work out street and nobody is connecting any dots here. And she was a student at Pratt University where we all spoke, remember? And where did our fearless leader go after that? Do you know? 'Cuz I do, said coffee shop." No one was listening to the Iron Man. "Seriously people."

"Tony, let Steve have this." Natasha tightened her glove. "He likes her." Tony put his machine hands up to his mouth in shock. He jumps up and down.

"Do you think they'll double date with Pepper and I?"

"No." Steve yelled from the front of the pack. Though he hated Tony's comments on his romantic life he couldn't help but smile at the possibility that he might have one.

At the end of the dock there laid the girls shoes and phones. The boat, however was gone.

"There had to have been something here." Clint looked around at the calm water. N "F.R.I.D.A.Y. check to heat signatures. Where are Ashlie and Reagan?" "Sir," the robotic voice responded, "it seems they are in the water."

"Steve, don't do anything-" Steve dove into the water. "Alright."

Underneath the water Steve swam deeper, he saw the sunken boat and pushed himself harder. There was a man floating tied to the side of the boat, desperately trying to pull himself free. Steve grabbed the rope and ripped it apart. The man floated to the surface.

Next in the water was Tony. He blasted himself next to his friend. "Second floor." Steve nodded and Tony made the door to the boat disappear. Inside the water was quickly rising, Tony flew through, he quickly found Ashlie and Reagan. They pointed over to another room. "Cap'n, you take the girls so I can-" Steve ripped the door off its frame. "Or, you could do that. Ladies," he addressed Ashlie and Reagan, "hold on." They did and he flew them out of the sunken boat.

Tony emerged from the water with Ashlie and Reagan. He set them down gently, as they coughed up water. Bucky immediately went to Ashlie's side and Peter to Reagan's.

"Please never do that again." Bucky put a hand on Ashlie's knee.

"No promises." Ashlie choked out. Bucky rubbed her soaking back.

Peter had grabbed a jacket from the quinjet and wrapped it around Reagan's shoulders. "Next time you decide to go swimming, please invite me." Reagan laughed as she clutched to Peter's suit.

"I should have called dibs earlier." Pietro whispered to his sister.

"Where's Claire?" At that moment Steve emerged from the water, Claire's head bobbed above the water. He pushed her up onto the dock, a poll and handcuffs attached to her wrist. Her eyes were closed and it appeared that she wasn't breathing. Steve started CPR while Ashlie and Reagan started to explain what happened on the boat.

 _Ashlie and Reagan snuck down the stairs and entered the first room they saw. The lights were off._

" _This boat is a lot bigger than I expected, it might take longer to find Claire." Reagan turned on the lights. They spun around and there was Claire sitting criss cross, with duct tape around her mouth, and handcuffed to a metal pole. "Oh, hey."_

" _Claire!" Reagan tore the duct tape off her friend's mouth. Claire's eyes were closed._

" _And that's when the squirrel realized his mistake." Her voice cracked on almost every word, her voice was soft and distant._

" _Claire, Claire. It's Reagan and Ashlie. We're here to rescue you."_

" _You said that yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that." Reagan patted her friend's hair._

" _You're on hard drugs, Claire."_

" _Probably."_

 _Ashlie looked around the room. She checked every drawer, every cabinet, but there was no key._

" _I can't find a key." Ashlie said._

" _Claire," Reagan pushed her head up so her eyes were more open, "Claire, where are the keys?"_

" _Why does nobody appreciate my stories? They're good stories." Claire whined._

" _They are, Claire. We love your stories, now tell us where the key is." The door opened and a man walked in with a tray of food._

" _What? I need backup!" The man yelled._ _"Reagan, do something." Ashlie was farther away from the man. "Sorry, I don't have any burritos on me at the moment."_

" _Well, well, well. You two have made today interesting. Claire was just telling us an utterly boring story about a squirrel and an underpaid mailman." The man scratched the small beard he had._

" _You're an underpaid mailman." Claire grouched. The man laughed._

" _You work for Ultron?" Ashlie asked._

" _No, I work with Ultron. I am nobody's sidekick. I'm the main guy." Reagan and Ashlie shared a look of disbelief and annoyance. At that moment they seemed to communicate without words._

'We need to stall.'

'Then let's stall.'

" _Not really, everything that happened has happened because Ultron got his robotic panties in a twist." Reagan blocked Claire from the man. "Plus we don't even your name."_

" _My name is Simone."_

" _That's my aunts name." Ashlie said, she put a hand on her hip._

" _Really?" Reagan asked. "I have a cousin Simone. She just graduated high school."_

" _Is this the one in California?"_

" _No, that' s Katie, this one is in Hawaii."_

" _Oh, Simone. I remember, she was the one with the really cute boyfriend." Simone looked between the two girls and discovered why they were friends with Claire, none of them would shut up._

" _Alright, that's enough-"_

" _Excuse you, we're not done." Reagan waved off Simone. "I know, we need to go to Hawaii, that's were all the cute guys are."_

" _We'll have to wait, I spent all of my money on this trip. Not that is hasn't been eventful, but I think I need a little change of scenery." With that last sentence Ashlie had been grabbing the nearest object, a flash light. She threw it at Simone's head. He stepped backward, Reagan slammed the door closed and locked the door. She stuck her tongue out at Simone who was holding his forehead._

" _Nice shot."_

 _Simone stared at Reagan for a second before getting a call, he talked for a while, then smiled at Reagan._

" _Uh-oh." Reagan watched Simone run away. "What?"_

" _Simone smiled."_

" _Simone smiled. That's stupid."_

" _Simone has a stupid smile."_

" _And he's a smartass."_

" _Squirrel." Claire said._

 _A loud boom sounded and the boat shook. Reagan, Ashlie, and Claire fell. Reagan opened the door. "Shit! We're sinking." Ashlie ran over to Claire and tried to rip the handcuffs off her._

" _Ow." Claire cried._ _"I know it hurts, but they have to come off."_ _"Guys, this ship is sinking fast."_ _Ashlie looked at her two best friends in the world. "You go; I'll try to get Claire out."_

 _Reagan didn't hesitate to say, "no, I'm staying. Together or not at all."_

" _Whoo!" Claire attempted to raise her hand in agreement._

 _Ashlie shook her head._ _"You band kids take that motto WAY to seriously."_


	10. Chapter 10

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: I went on a trip to Disneyworld when I was in high school. Ashlie and I were watching the electric parade at night. We had gotten there early so we could get good seats. There were these mouse/elephant dancers that were going into the audience. There was a little girl sitting next to me and I was excited because I thought a dancer would go up to her. Instead a dancer stood in front of me and said "what?". I was so shocked that I immediately began to think of something witty and cool to say back, but before I could a firework went off and saw that this dancer was HELLA ATTRACTIVE. I'm serious, he was the most attractive man I've ever seen in a mouse/elephant costume. So, instead of saying something funny I said "I like your face". Ashlie looked at me like WTF. The little girl was super confused. The attractive dancer just stood there and stared down at me. He then said "I like your face" and danced off. And that was the single most embarrassing moment of my life.

Chapter Ten: The End of the Line

Bucky had gone with Ashlie to grab her stuff. Together they walked into the lobby. Abby sat behind the desk, flipping her pen between her fingers.

"Miss Mazulo, welcome back." She said monotone, bordering on bored.

"Ashlie." Sebastian smiled and ran toward her. "I thought you'd been kidnapped or something. I'm glad to see you're okay."

"She's fine." Bucky crossed his arms, making his chest look larger. Ashlie went to get a key to her room. "Who are you?"

"Sebastian, I'm a friend of Ashlie's, who are you?" Sebastian lifted his posture, though they were the same height, Bucky had more of the muscle factor than he.

"More than you."

"Bucky." Ashlie called out. "Nice to see you Sebastian, sorry I scared you." Bucky smirked at Sebastian then followed Ashlie to the elevators. Sebastian leaned on the counter.

"Bucky is a stupid name."

Claire woke up in a bed, not her bed, her bed was worse than this. It had coffee stains everywhere and the sheets were scratchy. She felt the pillow behind her, there was no pattern on it, confirming her theory that she was not in her apartment. She looked around the room she was in. A navy blue room, one dresser was to her right, a couple books she didn't recognize stacked on top.

To her left was another stack of dvd's, classic movies like Star Wars, Jaws, and... Beauty and the Beast? Next to the stack was a chair, and a man sleeping in it. This made Claire jump a bit. The man's face was tucked in his arm, a very muscular arm. Steve. Claire sat up, slowly. The pain was everywhere, she groaned. Steve immediately woke up.

"Claire."

"Steve, where am I?" Claire pushed back the covers, her legs were covered in bruises. She wore a black dress that didn't go past her shoulder.

 _This is weird sleeping attire, what was I doing?_ Claire thought.

"You're in my room." Claire was confused. She flipped through her phased memories. And it all hit her like a truck. Ultron, the boat, the drugs they gave her. "It's alright, you're safe." Steve wiped away tears Claire didn't know she had.

"I...I was kidnapped."

"Yes."

"By a robot." "Yes."

"How long?" Claire rubbed her head, she immediately regretted it when she felt multiple bumps.

"It's been a month since we last since we've talked, well, while you were lucid." Steve chuckled.

"Claire, I've been wanting to tell you something for some time now." Claire wasn't sure where this was going, but she had seen enough romantic comedies to hope for something. "And I know that this is a wildly inappropriate time to say, but when you were gone a part of myself was missing and I don't want to lose you ever again."

Outside Steve's room Ashlie was sitting on the wall, her head leaned back and eyes closed. She woke when she heard talking. She fought the instinct to barge inside but she heard Steve start his confession and decided to wait.

Bucky woke up on the couch in his room. When he opened his eyes he expected to find Ashlie fast asleep, he was usually up before her. He noticed the sheets neatly folded and he was worried. He scrambled to his feet and raced through the house. He finally found her asleep outside Steve's room where Claire had been sleeping for the past week, having yet to wake up. Bucky picked Ashlie from the ground, careful not to wake her. He sat down on the couch, Ashlie fast asleep in his arms.

Reagan spent most of her time on the roof of the Avengers facility with Peter. They would talk about their lives and what they wanted for the future. He would swing around the facility with her in his arms, Reagan felt like she was on zip line, she loved every second of it.

There was an unspoken rule throughout the home; once Claire woke up they would leave. Or rather, Reagan would go back to Texas and Ashlie back to Washington. The rest of the Avengers had taken a liking to the two girls, and to Claire as Ashlie and Reagan told stories about high school. The table was never empty, there was always a happy demeanor around the house with the girls there. Steve thought of calling Fury and asking him if they could stay, but he knew the answer and hearing it made it real. He wanted a few more days of hopeful wishing that they would not have to leave.

Claire walked out from Steve's room for the first time.

"This is a nice place, Steve. A bit big isn't it?" Tony, who was behind the kitchen, leaned over the counter. Wanda and Pietro looked up from their lunch. This was the first time any of the other Avengers had seen Claire.

"Well, it houses a lot of people." Steve laughed.

"You said-"

"Claire!" Ashlie and Reagan ran towards their friend. They almost knocked each other over.

"You're here too!" The rest of the Avengers entered in their civilian clothing. "Woah, woah, woah." Everyone stopped moving. Claire pointed to Tony Stark, "you're Tony Stark. And y'all-" Her finger trailed the other Avengers. She turned to Steve, who looked confused.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you-"

"You're an Avenger!" Everyone started laughing. "Oh, my- so this is. And...woah." Claire smiled, for the first time in a month. "This is such a great day."

The Avengers plus Reagan, Claire, and Ashlie sat in the living room drinking various alcoholic drinks and eating nachos.

"Then Claire said 'I like your face'. I was thinking, 'what the hell' and you should have seen the little girl next to us." The whole team laughed while Claire hid her face in Steve shoulder.

Tony took a phone call. "In my defense," Claire started, "it was really late at night and we had been walking forever."

"Congratulations Pietro," Wanda punched her brothers arm, "there is someone worse at flirting than you." The group laughed again.

Tony returned his phone tight in his grip, "that was Fury. He said we're exposed."

"What does that mean?" Ashlie asked.

"Before the Ultron attack on the city, when Claire was kidnapped, we avenged undercover. We hadn't gone public; no one even knew the Avengers existed. Then Ultron and now the people want to know what we are, if we tell the truth they may want to shut us down."

"So, you want us to lie?" Natasha asked. "It would need to be a good one." Claire took a bite of a nacho and raised her hand, "I have an idea."

The group walked out of the movie theater laughing, they held buckets of popcorn. They took a picture next to the large movie poster, The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Claire had written a screenplay then teamed up with a movie company from New York and pitched the story. They bought it, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Evans starred in the movie. The actors looked scarily like the real deal.

The people got their explanation, it was shooting for a movie, nothing more. The real Avengers got to keep their new facility.

"I'm just upset I wasn't in it." Scott said.

"Oh, don't worry, this guy bought my story, he plans to make many, many, more. He says he'll even make backstories."

"What's his name?"

"Stan Lee."

The group walked back to their cars. Ashlie, Claire, and Reagan stood together on the sidewalk.

"So, y'all going back?" Claire asked sadly. Ashlie and Reagan nodded.

"We're graduating in a few months, then we'll move here and find work." Ashlie said.

"Plus, we all have very good reasons to be in New York." Reagan waved to Peter.

The friends hugged. "Did you ever think it would end up like this?" Reagan asked her best friends in the whole wide world.

"The robots were a shock."


End file.
